Young girls are fighting for climate change

50% of young girls want to change the environment when they grow up, according to a recent international survey conducted by the global beauty brand The Body Shop. 

The survey involved 70 girls aged 5 to 15, from over 30 different countries from across the world with many of the young girls saying they hoped for a future without climate change and a world without pollution.

Plastic pollution was one of the highest concerns, mentioned separately by sixteen different children.

Scarlett, aged 11 from Canada said: ‘When I’m a grown-up, I will be an environmentalist, my dream is that the earth won’t be polluted and there will be no fossil fuels.’

In the past few years, young people are becoming increasingly engaged with environmental issues.

With millions of young people from around the world taking part in Youth Climate Strikes every Friday.

On September 21 over 4 million people joined in on the climate strikes in 163 countries.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg kick-started the movement in 2018 when she decided to not attend school until the Sweden general election after heat waves and wildfires swept across her home country.

Thunberg then announced that she would continue to strike every Friday until Sweden aligned with the targets set by the Paris Agreement, this movement quickly gained momentum worldwide and has since inspired children across the world to stage their own protests, under the hashtag #fridaysforfuture.

According to a survey conducted by the United Nations, 84% of young people agree they need more information to prevent climate change, but 89% believe that young people can make a difference.

A spokesperson for Greenpeace said: ‘In the space of a year, school children on every continent have organised themselves to demand climate action for our shared future. We are done waiting for the politicians who have failed to act our entire lives.’

In related news, thousands of schoolchildren across the UK recently missed school as part of the Global Strike for Climate.

Photo Credit – Theo Lees